


Many Happy Returns

by moodyrebelmage



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Birthday, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Sexy Times, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-02
Updated: 2016-05-02
Packaged: 2018-06-06 00:50:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6730816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moodyrebelmage/pseuds/moodyrebelmage
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Inquisitor returns early to help Cullen celebrate his birthday morning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Many Happy Returns

The first thing he felt were her fingernails. Soft scraping against his abdomen that pulled him out of a dream about… well, _that didn’t matter anymore_. She must have slipped back silently in the middle of the night. Six weeks gone this time, and her return had suspiciously perfect timing.

He kept still, barely daring to breathe as her fingertips traced gentle shapes through the fair hairs peppering his belly. Her arm draped over his side, warm and lazy, and he couldn’t suppress a slight grin as he opened his eyes to the golden morning light breaking through the windows. 

“Good morning,” she murmured, her lips cool against his shoulder as she propped herself up behind him. Her fingers became more insistent, nails dragging heavily enough across his skin to leave dents, lightly burning trails that spread fire through his veins.

“Welcome back,” he replied, his voice rough with sleep and need. He tried to roll toward her, but she was solid, refusing to make room for him, her strong fingers gripping a handful of his belly until he yelped, both startled and a little embarrassed that there was now enough belly to grab. 

“A little Antivan bird told me that today is your birthday,” she said, warm breath tickling his ear. “I just managed to make it back in time. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Did I forget to mention that?”

“Mmhm.” 

Her caresses moved south to his navel and south again, and the soft, slow morning grew a little harder. 

“I didn’t even have time to get you anything. Whatever shall I do?”

A husky chuckle escaped him as he stretched his legs, the sudden throbbing in his core shooting waves of energy down his limbs. He rolled back as her fingers found their target, their soft tips dancing lightly along the inflamed skin of his shaft. A knuckle brushed across the tip and he hissed against his pillow.

“Sorry!” 

“ _Don’t be_.” 

His reply came much sharper than he had intended. Heat rose to his cheeks as puffs of quiet laughter struck his shoulder, but before he could amend it, her hand found purchase. It wrapped firmly around his base, dragging the thin skin there along its solid core. His face rolled into the pillow, muffling the rumble in his throat.

Her palm was strong and just a little rough from years spent in the greenhouse, and she was apparently in no mood for mercy. Her grip was determined, her strokes long but quick. _Six weeks, though_. His hand found her wrist and she released him.

“Sorry, I…” Her voice trailed off into a dewy kiss at the base of neck, his skin stretching as she drew it between her lips. “I just missed you.”

This time when he rolled back, she moved with him, rising to let him hook his arm under and around her. His other hand found its way into the mess of auburn curls behind her ear. The faint scent of horses lingered on her, masked only a little by the lilac soap she had used before climbing into bed with him. The morning light glittered white against the edges of her hair.

“I m-” he began to say, but her eyes flicked down to his mouth, to his scar, more precisely, and before he could finish she had pressed her lips to it, tender at first, then more insistent. He would tell her later.

Her tongue dragged along his lips, parting them just enough for her to suck the lower one between her teeth, which scraped gingerly against the delicate flesh. Bare thigh slid up his torso, pressing into his abdomen, and his hand found its way out of her curls and down to the gentle slope of her hip as she threw it over him. She sat there atop him for a moment, crowned in sunlight, fine hairs raising bumps over her exposed skin in the morning chill. Her nails needled at his chest, a coy smirk tugging at the side of her mouth as she traced through the hair to the fading scar tissue beneath. How quickly the dreams faded on mornings like this, how short the leap between sleep and wake. How solid and grounded he felt beneath her.

She leaned over him, her hair encircling them both as she drew a line of hot kisses against his jaw and up to the tender skin beneath his ear. Her tongue flicked out to tease it, her hand slipping back down his chest and between the urgent heat of their centers. Long fingers stretched against his length, pressing the tip down the slippery path to her sheath. She slid her hips down, burying him within her as her teeth grazed the sensitive flesh under his jaw. Thunder rumbled in his chest, nearly drowning out her sighs and they thrust together with increasing desperation.

His hands found their way up her torso, charting the supple curve under her breasts with pleading pressure. He could feel his own pressure building, desperate to lose himself in the moment, but all too aware that to give in would be to give it up too quickly. Her sighs grew heavy, beating a steady, determined rhythm. _Don’t say my name, not yet_. His neck was taut, controlled, his own moans stifled and every muscle tensed as he waited for her. The tension had nowhere to go. _Not yet._

A hand was in his hair, abrupt and tugging at his damp curls. Her nose ground against his cheek as she released one final cry.

“ _Cullen._ ”

Her rhythm slowed almost imperceptibly, and he at last yielded to his own need, curling into her shoulder, his arms locked hard around her back as he growled out his own release.

Their bodies loose, they fell tangled against the mattress, their chests rising sharply together as they came down. Her hand was still in his hair, now combing lazily through the sweat as she breathed against him. The sounds of the keep drifted through the open windows, barking dogs and shouting officers and a few laughing children. The breeze was bliss against his burning skin.

“Happy birthday,” she said, nuzzling deeper into his neck.

 _The best._ For years, most of his life at this point, he hadn’t marked the day at all. Not since he was a child. In lieu of answering, he grabbed her hand and pressed a tender kiss into her palm. She shifted back to see his face, her thumb tracking back and forth across his cheek, a coy grin spreading once more across her swollen lips.

“And it’s only just begun.”


End file.
